


Sundae for Two, Please

by queenietheband



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Dramatic Mike Wheeler, F/M, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, M/M, Minor Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Minor Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, One Shot, Protective Steve Harrington, Relationship(s), Sad Will Byers, Will Byers Has Powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-15 23:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19305628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenietheband/pseuds/queenietheband
Summary: As Steve Harrington learned working at Scoops Ahoy: Ice cream makes the heart grow fonder.If only he had known that when it came to Mike and Will.(Or Steve watches Mike and Will fall in love)





	Sundae for Two, Please

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I wrote this one shot when I was bored and I just LOVE the idea that season 3 is going to have a lot of Steve helping the kids, we stan a badass babysitter
> 
> Also NONE OF THIS IS CONFIRMED this is just my prediction for what I think will happen in season 3 (or let's be real, what I WANT to happen in season 3 lol)

Steve thought he had seen everything he could see working at Scoops Ahoy on his summer vacation. He had witnessed twins getting into a full on tantrum as their mother pretended she needed to use the restroom and tried to make a break for it. He had viewed two old people celebrating an anniversary over an ice cream sundae and wondered wistfully if that could ever be him. He had even seen a middle aged man yell at his coworker until he turned red in the face for messing up the order but ended up actually liking the ice cream he had been given.

What Steve hadn't expected to witness ever in his small, sometimes unusual smelling, ice cream store in the mall?

A love story. But that's exactly what happened.

Robin noticed it first.

"Hey, aren't those your little buddies?"

Steve finished refilling the soft serve machine before turning to lean over the counter and peer out the glass wall that opened into the mall.

He sighed. "Sure is."

Grabbing seven cones and propping them up, he waited until he saw the bright red hair before filling in the orders.

One by one, he handed them their cones; Rocky Road for Dustin, Vanilla Soft Serve for Lucas, Mint Chocolate Chip for Max, Cookie dough for Will, and-

“Hey, where’s the rest of the party?”, Steve asked as he handed the last cone to Will.

Will accepted it and quietly slipped his cash across the table, shrugging almost microscopically. “Mike wanted to show El something at his house, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Dustin muttered as he lapped up the ice cream melting against his hand, “Which is code for make out.”

The others gave various grossed out responses before Steve could jump to their defense. “Hey, hey, hey cut them some slack. When you reach a certain age all you want to do is be making out with someone you really like and soon you’ll probably all be like that too.”

Dustin nodded in awe at his apparent wisdom, while Max and Lucas both blushed and avoided each other’s gaze. Steve grinned. He remembered being just like them when he was their age. He glanced at Will, the only one who still looked disgusted.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be like that, Steve. Kissing’s gross.” Will muttered under his breath, staring at his ice cream cone in frustration.

Now that? Steve had never seen before. He studied the boy, who looked nervous all of a sudden.

Steve shrugged and pretended not to take notice. “Eh, maybe you’ll change your mind.”

With that, the group of teenagers shuffled out the entrance, and Steve watched them disappear around the corner. He was glad they all had been able to relax and act like normal teens, especially Will and the year he had.

“So, what’s up with that mushroom-headed kid?”

Steve startled and rolled his eyes at Robin, who had walked back into the front room. “Don’t call him that. He’s been through a lot.”

“Like what?”

Steve hesitated. He wished he could tell her everything, from the demogorgon to the mindflayer, but it was too much of a crazy idea that she might not even buy it. Besides, he didn’t want to scare her out of Hawkins just yet.

He kinda enjoyed her company.

“Just some stuff, okay? Once you learn more about this town...you’ll understand.”

Robin rolled her eyes and mumbled a whatever under her breath, stepping forward to help the family that had wandered in. Steve grabbed the empty tubs he had been filling and disappeared into the back room, his mind fully distracted by thinking about the town’s past.

As much as he loved being Dustin’s mentor, he always did have a soft spot for the Byers kid. He had been doing so much better these last few months, especially now that the anniversary of the town’s last monster had passed and nothing had happened. Will had been smiling more and Steve had even heard a genuine belly laugh from him once when he had dropped by on his way to get some clothes in the mall. Today, something had been off, though. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was definitely there.

Before he could think any more of it, Robin ducked her head into the backroom, her eyes looking crazed as Steve noticed the line of people hanging in the store. He sighed and followed her back out, putting his worries over Will Byers in the back of his mind.

 

The next time he had even begun to suspect that something was up was when Mike had walked in, looking as if he hadn’t realized where he was.

Steve stopped putting away the money for the day and turned to stare at him in surprise. “Hey, everything okay?”

Mike blinked blurily, almost looking right through him, and shuffled over to stand in front of Steve. He didn’t say anything, but pulled out his wallet, an old worn out one that must have been passed down from his dad, and placed a $10 bill on the counter. Steve eyed him cautiously as he passed Mike his favorite ice cream, a strawberry cone. Mike stared at it in his hand and without any prompting, burst into tears.

Steve hurried over the counter and ushered Mike over to a booth, silently thanking his manager for deciding to check out early and leaving Steve in charge of closing up. Mike blew his nose loudly with the stack of napkins piled on the table.

Yup, he was definitely glad no one was here to witness this mess.

Steve waited for Mike to quiet down before motioning him to tell him what was wrong and he listened patiently as Mike laid out the whole story.

“El told me she needed a break. She said she talked to Max and Hopper and decided that the only way she could fully initiate into her new life is to be on her own for a while,” Mike’s chin wobbled. “She said no matter what happens, she wants to be friends and that she hopes I understand.”

Steve patted his arm comfortingly. “Hey, listen it’s going to be okay. You gotta respect her boundaries, man. When you sister broke up with me, I gave her space and let her deal with it on her own.”

Mike paused his loud crying and stared at Steve in anger. “Yeah you gave her space and then she chose Jonathan over you.”

“Wow, you really don’t hold back when you’re hurt, do you? Just trust me, Mike. I’ve been through this and even if it doesn’t end up the way you think you wanted, it will end up the way you need it to.”

Mike sat there, thinking over the advice before begrudgingly nodding. He sighed and finished eating the cone he had been clutching in his hand. “Does this dating stuff ever get easier?”

“Nah, but it does get better once you meet the person you’re meant to be with.”

That brought a smile to Mike’s face.

 

A few weeks had passed by before Steve had gotten news from Dustin that Mike and El had ended their trial separation and were back together. Dustin had been the only one to come visit him at work that week and it had been too much of a change that Steve had asked him about it.

“Everyone’s just busy with dating now,” Dustin mumbled as he helped Steve fold the napkins for the tables.

Steve chuckled. “Will even found someone who fit his crazy high standards?”

Dustin grew quiet and finished fixing the last napkin before looking up at Steve. “He’s been....hanging out at home a lot. I tried to hang out with him a few times, but he doesn’t seem to want to talk, at least, not to me.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Steve tried to hide his worry, “He’s probably just going through his teenage rebellion now.”

Steve reminded himself to give Will an extra scoop of cookie dough ice cream when he came in, free of charge.

 

The next time he saw Will, he decided right then and there that kid needed more than a free scoop of ice cream. Steve had just finished locking up the store (his manager really ought to promote him since he kept doing her job for her) and was leaving through the back exit when he spotted him.  

Sitting by Steve’s old beat up car, Will sat with his knees pulled to his chest. He was soaking wet from that downpour that had just let up and he looked like all the life had been seeped out of him and was disappearing along with the trickle of rain running towards the storm drain. Will only looked up when he heard Steve’s footsteps next to him and even then he still managed to look as if he wasn’t actually there.

Steve held out a hand to help him up and tried to give him a comforting smile. “So, how bout a chocolate sundae? On the house.”

By the time Steve finished making the sundae for him, Will had wrapped himself in the jacket Steve kept in the store when he had to brave the frozen locker and was slumped over in a chair, the cheery decor around him seeming to disintegrate just by the energy he was giving off.

Steve plopped down in the seat across from Will and slide the sundae, complete with the works, over to the boy. Will didn’t say anything, carefully using the spoon to carve waves in the chocolate sauce covering the vanilla ice cream.

Normally, when any of the kids had a problem and came to Steve, he didn’t even need to ask, the story would pour out of them as if it was a therapy session. With Will, it seemed he would need to do most of the talking.

Steve cleared his throat. “Look, I know you probably think of me as your last choice, especially when you got your brother around, but you can trust me, Will. I won’t say anything unless you want me to.”

Will finally looked up at him and Steve felt as if he was being examined through an artist’s eyes, the way Will shifted his gaze back and forth across his face.  
When he did speak, his voice was barely above a whisper and Steve had to lean in to hear him properly.

“I think...I think I just lost Mike for good.”

Steve hesitated. He wanted to jump right in, get to the root of the problem and wrap everything up in a nice little bow, but it wouldn’t work. He chose his words carefully. “I’m sure that’s not the case, Will. Mike’s pretty damn loyal, especially to you. Do you...do you want to tell me what happened?”

Will set down his spoon and glanced at the wall behind Steve, his face scrunching into an expression of pain as he seemed to relive the memory.

“I haven’t seen him in a while, he’s always with El and…I miss him. I went to his house to hang out like we do every Friday and she was there too.” Will ducked his head and hid his face behind his wet hair. “He got mad and we got into a fight. Told me I needed to grow up and move on. That we could never be kids again.”

Will’s chin wobbled and Steve pretended not to notice him wipe furtively at his eyes. “He sounded like he hated me. I’ve never seen Mike that mad before and I just...I felt so alone. I’ve been feeling like that for a while now and I thought it would go away, but it never does.”

His hand flitted to fiddle with the large scientific watch strapped to his wrist, one that Steve had noticed also on Mike’s arm.

The unlikely pair fell silent, both trapped in their own thoughts. Anger at Mike and at the harsh hand that was dealt to Will flared in Steve, but quickly died down, along with his confusion over the situation. He had to put it into words that Will would understand.  
“I promise you, swear it on this god awful town, that you’re not alone. You have Lucas, Max, Dustin, El, your mom, Jonathan, Hopper, Nancy, and me. Even if Mike acts like he hates you, that kid is loyal to the end and he still cares about you, too. I hope you know that, Will.”

Will’s gaze was intense and stared right at him, waiting for Steve to rise to the challenge. “What if you all found out the truth? Then none of you would want to even look at me.”

“Will, stop. We all care about you no matter what.”

Will took a deep breath and suddenly his intenseness was replaced with fear. He started tapping his foot against the tiled floor. “Steve, I need to tell you something.”

“Anything.”

“You remember that day when we all came here and I said I didn’t want to kiss anyone? I lied. I do want to kiss someone. I want to kiss...Mike.”

Will’s fists clenched and he seemed to be bracing himself for some kind of response. Steve remembered in the back of his head a rumor that had been going around high school that Lonnie Byers hit his kids. He remembered he had laughed along with his douche friends.

He wished he hadn’t laughed.

Steve quietly laid his hands on the table, hoping that Will got the message that they wouldn’t move. He waited for Will to relax before talking.

“That’s cool, Will. I’m glad you like someone. I mean, I don’t have any experience in that situation, but I’m sure my advice will work all the same.”

Will blinked owlishly at him. “You’re...you’re not disgusted with me?”  
Steve shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah. Not my style.”

Will softly nodded, his eyes a storm of questions and possibilities.

Finally, Steve scraped back his chair and took the empty bowl over to the sink before pulling his keys out of his pocket.

“How ‘bout I take you home, your mom’s probably really worried. I’ll even let you pick the music we listen to in the car.”

For the first time since Steve had seen the boy huddled in his rain soaked clothing by the side of his car, Will smiled.

 

Steve saw that smile more often than not these past few days. Will had been dropping by randomly whenever Steve was at work, pulling a chair from the break room and plopping it down behind the counter so he could sketch and chat with him and Robin. When everyone had left the shop and Steve, finally made assistant manager, was alone to lock up the store, Will stayed with him. The teen talked a lot for someone with such a small frame and whatever he talked about sounded so full of life and understanding that Steve started appreciating even the littlest of details.

Will even seemed to be more free, now that this secret he had buried so deep down was finally out. Steve constantly wondered if anyone else knew about, especially Mike.

He got his answer the next week.

"Steve."

He glanced up at the voice and grinned. El was standing in front of him, her curly hair puffed up in a fashionable way, clutching a twenty dollar bill as a small smile sprouted on her face.

"Hey, El. The usual for you and Mike?", Steve asked as he gathered the ingredients to start on the sundae for two the couple always got.

El shook her head no though, and thrust the money into his hand. "No usual. Mike and I aren't a couple anymore so we can't do the sundae."

Steve stopped scooping up the ice cream. "What do you mean you guys aren't a couple anymore?"

She shrugged and looked at him in innocent confusion. "We realized it wasn't going to work out and decided to part ways, as friends, so we can't share the couple sundae anymore."

Steve rolled his eyes good naturedly. El was a fast learner, going from lab experiment to teenage girl within a year, but she still seemed to always ignore the tiny details. "Listen, you can still get the sundae if you want. It can be a...friend sundae instead. As long as you're eating it with someone you care about, it counts, alright?"

El considered the offer and finally a wide grin spread wide across her face. Steve handed her the sundae, tucking El's favorite green spoon directly in the middle like she loved and watched her trudge back over to Mike who looked content with just sitting there as the cold air of the ice cream parlor barricaded them from the heat.

Steve finished helping a few other customers by the time Will finally got there, charging into the store and waving around a paper.

"Is Robin here yet? I finished the drawing I was making for her it's so cool it's th-"

"Will? What are you doing here?"

Steve's eyes widened and he winced apologetically as Will's whole body tensed up and he slowly turned around to face Mike. Dustin had filled Steve on all the details and from what he had last heard, Will had been avoiding Mike like the plague ever since their fight and Mike had been taking it really hard.

"Oh, hey Mike. I didn't know you were going to be here today."

"I-I called your house in the morning, but Jonathan said you had already left. It kinda feels like you're ignoring me." Mike chuckled weakly and came to a slow stop when Will shrugged noncommittally.

“I’ve been really...busy.” Will finished lamely, turning slowly to glance at Steve as a sign of help.

Unfortunately for Will, Steve refused to bend. He went back to wiping the counters clean and pretended not to be eavesdropping.

Mike sighed loudly and ducked his head in shame. “I know you hate me now, but I really want you to know how sorry I am about...everything. I was mad about other stuff that day too and I should never have taken it out on you.” He peeked a looked at Will, who was still standing like a rock. “I miss you, Will. A lot. I’ve been going crazy not being able to talk to you.”

That seemed to give Will pause. His shoulders relaxed as he simultaneously began leaning closer to Mike. “I missed you, too and El, she...she told me about you and her. I’m really sorry.”

“No, no it’s okay. It was something that was eventually going to happen. Besides, I was beginning to realize I was in love with someone else.”

When Steve looked up, both the teenagers’ faces were beet red and their eyes were locked in such a strong contact that Steve thought he could see a thin string connecting them.

Someone noisily dropping their spoon on the tiled floor startled all three, each jumping apart and pretending they were doing something else.

Mike cleared his throat. “Well, um, I have to take El back home after this, but maybe we can meet back at my house and hang out later? Just us?”

Will grinned bashfully and punched Mike lightly on the arm. “I’d love too, Mikey.”

Steve watched as Mike’s face morphed into one of complete awe and he shyly waved at Will before turning and heading back to El, who had finished her half of the sundae already.

Will watched Mike quietly, a small smile etched into his face and finally turned back to face Steve.  
“So much for him not wanting to be your friend anymore, huh, Will?”

Will nodded distractedly and even then Steve could tell he was already hanging out with Mike in his head.

Steve chuckled and gently pulled the drawing of Robin that Will had been holding tightly against his chest. “Here buddy, why don’t I give this Robin when she comes back from her break and you go get ready to hang out with Mike?”

Will was already heading towards the door by the time Steve finished talking, but all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks and smiled widely back at him.

“Hey Steve, thanks...for everything.”

Steve knew exactly what he meant.

 

Huddled in the corner of Scoops Ahoy, clutching his makeshift weapon of a hefty ice cream scooper and trying not to die, Steve finally managed to connect the dots.

“Will, you can’t go down there. You’re gonna die!”

Mike had stood up from his corner of the room, ignoring the angry whispers everyone kept aiming his way in case he blew their cover.

“If I don’t do this then El will die. I have to.”

Will stood near the entrance, the broken, flashing lights of the mall beaming down in random bursts as they dangled vicariously from the ceiling. The sounds of the monsters attacking the stores on the ground level filled the air and Steve backed up, pushing Lucas’s little sister into the back room with the rest of the kids.

It had started out like any other normal day, until Dustin had burst into the ice cream shop with Erica, screaming about a monster being in the mall and everyone needing to evacuate. They got out most of the people, but had been trapped here in the mall, along with the rest of their friends, hoping to find a way to get out alive. Of course, El was doing her part, but from the sounds of her echoing screams, she didn’t have much time.

“Mike, let go. You and I both know this needs to be done.”

Steve focused back on the situation at hand, watching as the two teenagers quarreled it out by the entrance, Will slowly inching closer and closer to the exit.

Mike was facing Will so Steve couldn’t see his face, but from his broken voice he got all the answer he needed.  
“I can’t lose you, Will. I-I need you.”

Will’s face ghosted with shock, his arms slowly falling against his sides. “But...you need El more. I have to make sure she stays alive.”

Steve shifted positions and stayed hugging the walls, trying to get the teens’ attention. “Hey, guys, this is really interesting to watch, but you need to get back inside the storage room or that monster is gonna be on our asses soon.” As if on cue, the shrill scream beat itself into their eardrums and all three ducked, holding their ears to stop the pain.

By the time Steve looked back up, Will was at the entrance and Mike was gripping his arm desperately.

Steve began to shout out for them, warning them to get back inside or he would have to use force, when he came to an abrupt halt.

Mike was kissing Will.

Both Steve and Will seemed to be in the same amount of shock when Mike finally pulled away.

“Please, Will, be careful. Promise me you’ll come back.”

Will stared up at Mike in shock, his hazel eyes widened to the size of saucers. “I-I promise.”

Slowly, he let his hand that he had been clutching against Mike’s chest unconsciously during their kiss, fall against his side, and finally glanced at Steve.  
“I, um... I guess I’ll be right back.”

Steve gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, the only thing his still processing mind seemed to be handling in that moment.

Will flew out of the room within seconds and Mike slowly maneuvered his way over to Steve, his face lit up with all kinds of embarrassment.  
The two stood behind the broken ice cream counter in silence, the occasional crunch of the broken glass filling the silence.

Steve glanced at Mike out of the corner of his eye, watching the way his eyebrows knitted together in fear every time the lights overhead flashed.

Apparently he hadn’t been doing as good of job of side-eyeing as he had thought.

“Stop looking at me like that, Steve. It was perfectly normal.”

Steve shrugged and raised his arms in surrender. “Hey, I never said it was not. I’m just so surprised because even though you and El broke up for good this time, I always thought you were only into her.”

Mike glanced over at him, them being the same height, and winced. “Is it bad that one of the reasons I ended things with El is because of Will?” He opened his eyes wide. “Not that I mean he’s like the main reason we broke up, we both wanted different things and she wanted to date other people and we didn’t really like each other anymore and it-”

“Mike, dude, calm down. I literally didn’t say anything was wrong about any of it. As long as all of you are happy, I’m cool with it.”

Mike scoffed. “Alright, _dad_ , calm down.”

Steve ruffled Mike’s hair teasingly.

Before he could bug him even more about what went down, Dustin shoved open the pantry door and looked around the room in confusion. Steve could see Lucas, Max, Robin, and Erica fixing up some more weapons further in.

“Where’s Will?”

Steve nodded towards the entrance, where a bright light filled the expanse and the monster screeched in response.

Mike looked longingly out into the mall lobby.

“He’s fighting for the people he loves.”

 

Even though half of the mall was destroyed and there were barely any people walking around in fear that the monster would come creeping back down the hall, Scoops Ahoy remained open. Steve had really debated even going into work, but since Robin had taken the week off for “recovery from the supernatural, here he was.

Scooping the ice cream into each cone relaxed him, no matter how many times he hated it, and when the few brave souls who decided that they would rather spend their last minutes eating ice cream if the end of the world took place again, Steve put on his own brave face and served them.

The last two customers of the day to walk in were the only ones who got a genuine smile out of him.

“Hey, back so soon?”, Steve teased as both Will and Mike rolled their eyes at him.

All three looked around the room, at each cover-up attempt to hide the damage that had been done when the threat of Hawkins had hit their store. Will traced a smiley face in the condensation of the newly fixed ice cream glass cover and smiled.

"I'm just glad everything can go back to normal again.."

Steve had heard the news from Jonathan. Apparently right after El and Will had killed the monster, a huge group of government agents and military men had hauled them into a lab and run tests. Everyone had been worried, but thankfully it was only a one time thing and the government finally promised to move locations.

At least, that's they had said.

Mike bumped shoulders with Will, drawing everyone out of their own thoughts. "Plus, now that you and El are technically siblings they had to let you out otherwise both Hopper and your mom would have freaked."

Steve glanced at Will at surprise who shrugged sheepishly. "My mom and Hopper finally decided to move in together. My mom was going to move us out of Hawkins before Hopper got her to change her mind."

"Ah," Steve gestured calmly between the two boys, "Anything else new in your lives?"

The two glanced at each other in innocent denial, but Steve knew. He saw it as soon as they had walked in.

They were leaning into each other and if one was just looking for a quick second they wouldn't have noticed their linked pinkies clinging together for dear life.

Steve smiled. "So what can I get you two today?"

"Uh," Mike leaned forward as a smile overtook his face. "Sundae for two, please."

Will blushed and gently pushed against Mike, who looked down at him with awe-filled eyes.

Steve nodded and pulled out the bowl. "You know what? It's on the house."

Will looked at him in surprise and both boys leaped to protest, but Steve raised his arms to quiet them down. "Really, it's the least I can do."

Will looked at him in confusion, "But...we haven't really done anything for you. It's mostly been you helping us."

Steve pondered his answer. "Consider it a thank you for...an interesting summer job. Without all of your drama I really would hate this job much more.”

Mike rolled his eyes, stuffing the ten dollar bill he was going to use into the tip jar and grinned before following Will like a love sick puppy to a booth.

As Steve finished up making the sundae, he thought back of how it used to be a few months ago, pre-monster and pre-couple.

This whole time, it really _was_ a love story.

He smiled and added two extra cherries on top of the whipped cream.


End file.
